Bacon skinner



Jane 30, 1925.

' T. E. ODYERMAN BACON SKINNER Filed Nov". 12, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented June 30, 1925.

UNITED STATES THEODORE E- ODERMA or OKLAHOMA. CITY, OKLAHOMA.

acon SKINNER.

Application filed November 12, 1823, Serial No. 674,209

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, THEODORE E. ODER- MAN, citizen of the United States, residing at Oklahoma City, in the county of Oklahoma and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Bacon Skinner; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,-and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates tomachines for removing the skin or rind from slabs of bacon and for cutting such bacon into slabs of a suitable thickness. e i i V In utilizing the sides of bacon effectively and economically, it is customary to market the bacon in slices of a predetermined width so as to fit the cartons. Where the bacon is taken from a side which originally exceeded this desired width in thickness, it is desirable that the bacon be taken from the portion-farthest from the. skin, as the portion close to the skin is not streaked with lean meat. Furthermore, it is desirable that the skin should be cut off as close as possible to the bacon proper, so as to avoid the retaining on the skin of fat which brings a much higher selling price when detached and reduced to lard.

Owing to the-tendency of the skin of the bacon to wrinkle, it has heretofore beencustomary to do the needed skinning by hand, thereby requiring highly skilled men and involving a slow process. -My invention aims to avoid such manual labor by providing a speedily operating machine for this purpose, and more particularly, by providing a machine which will be equally effective for initially detaching the desired standard thickness of the bacon and for afterwards removing the skin from the remaining fatty portion. Furthermore, my invention provides simple and effective means for preventing the skin from wrinkling and for maintaining the knife or cutter at a temperature which will make. it highly efiicient in itscutting action. Y

More particularly, my invention provides simple means for clamping a partly loosened end of the skin on a side of bacon to a table, for moving a cutter in the proper plane so as to sever the skin closely from the bacon proper, for heating the knife to expedite its cutting acti n, for compressing he side .move close to the skin.

or slab-of bacon ahead of the knife so as to flatten out any wrinkles in the skin. provides simple and eifectivermeans for adjusting the' height of the table with respect to the knife and for locking this adjustment either in a position in whichthe knife will cut off a slab of bacon of a predetermined thickness .or one in which the knife will Still further and also more detailed objects willappear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which a Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the general arrangement of the parts when the knife is ready to skin the bacon.

Fig. 2 is a similar diagram, showing the bacon carrying platen as lowered so as to cause the knife to cut the desired thickness off a slab of bacon of greater thickness.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a pressure-actuated machine embodying my invention..

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the same. I Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the same machine, taken'from the left-hand end of Fig. 4:.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary central and longitudinal section through the machine, taken along thecorrespondingly numbered line in Fig. 3 and showing the skin clamp in its raised position.

- Fig. 7 is section similar to Fig.6, but

showing the. skin clamp in its lowered or clamping position. 4 1

Fig. 8 is'a transverse section through the machine, taken along the lines 8-8 of Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view, showing the initial clamping of the end of the bacon rind. V

Referring first to the diagrams of Figs. 1 and 2, these show a table or platen 1 superposed on a tablesuppo-rt 2,the table having its top recessed at its rear end soas to provide a depression for receiving the jaw of a It also skinclamp 3. Thisjskin clamp is mounted f hen used for removing the skin or rindv 7 from a side or slab of bacon which hasits main portion 8 ofthe desired thickness, the

skin i's cut loose from the rear .end' of the slab with a hand knife for a short distance,

thereby permitting the loosened end portion of the skin to be slipped under the raised clamp 3 when the bacon is placedfon the f isih te 'e reeted pe itien-c table 1, after which the clamping lever 4 islowered so as to. cause the clamp to grip the loosened end of the skin as shown in Fig. 1. The remainder ofthe skin is then removed by means of a knife or outters9 which is mounted for movement in a plane slightly above the top of the table 1 and which it moves towards the left inFig. 1. When the knife thus moves towards the left hand end effthe meeh e, he r sistenee t i ee i automatically tends to stretch the skin of the h r on, t th s etiee my net h eeflie eh tejflet en, out w c'h kle in the ekih'end hene thee l ting e tieh m gh not e ee 'ly f ow t e ee f the ski Te Pre ent. su hv e erieklii whi h m ghtfe i e eeuee nettien e h ski t he. lef th ev red he 'en eleh e isht leeve on iderable moun Q t t vettee e tothe k nt mount el e '10 so that it, will-travel ahead of the knife end Will compr s the leh The i else provide suit ble heat ng m ns for ermi g the k fev te ke p t epi cutting condition, which desirably by m unti e eteem pet S het t e ee w l he po ed bove it W enever the knif If the eriezhelsi leefheeeh is of e hieks ne e excee ng "the de red, wid h of; the bacon ii hieh i to, e phekeged in sli ed term, I r t lower he able alete ak e initial cu whieh'will ever the, desired th c ness f h e e it m ee h end wi lleeve t e ski ,et eehedi e the urplue'fet, This, I desire lv 1e y p d t ihg the tab e 1 end th t le suppor 2' ith Cooperating earn fermeti hs-ee as t e se e: releti e d es movement ofthe'same to lower t-liertabl e.

me e te ly eee ihe her ef eehievferri gh w ie the emm rei l. eeihed ment of my machine as shown, in Figs}; 3 to It muse, th s eemprises epph t fr me 2, he he; eg 1 e-f suita le heigh and having a pair of adjusting screws 13 extendi g len itudihet x of. the time E h ei th ee erene i threaded hrensh a pair of sleeves 1112 and spaced longitudinally f th meehiue end; ee h o the. le eer ie eeem pl te a ing an upper ur ee which is, inclined to'wgtrds the rear end, of them ehhie th e-eh ieg h e h Plates 1 nd U et F g 6 en 7- R s ing even, th :ihehhed en of t se. 'm' Plate ar e s e ler ye eP ng h gs 8end1l erme pe the h tem ef a t bl or pletenQO, whie table is held against longitudinal movement why nga ement w hisu te le eme he ti e 'fe 'e emp eby aring egein t the hem portion 2. Eie. Thee ar ang th ta le een ie d ly e rai ed. or ered by moving. the eelh or 1 thr ugh h I a ser'ewe 1. .1. such meer me t heins efieeted hr n hg e hand Whee 2. d -pe ed etth towa end i he meeh ne and h ving'its Sh fastened t a ge heel which mesheswith a pair of pinions 23 respectivepressed-at its rear end to form arecess- 24 as shown in Fig. 6, which recess is adapted to receive the loosened rear end portion of the skin on a slab of baconiresting on the table.

Adjacentito this recess I dispose a clamping portion of the jaw member 3 which is pivoted to one arm 25 of a bell-crank lever. This bell crank lever has its other arm 26Iconnected h ugh elink 2 w th ehend ev r1 h las nam d. eve bei g; clispes e he f h 0f he ma hine end n All t P e 29 on the table so that a movement of this lever abOlLtits said pivot will move the link 27 r and e e he l t t e he empi g iew t ue'ht e e id b lle r els The ink2 d sirably slides over a cross bar 30 extending n across the machine under the table and this 1 link desirably has, a pair of notches 31 (F ts-'2) i -M 32. sedeie ed t le e on the cross bar 30. The position of these .notches corresponds respectively to the te ed e lo pee t f f theyel f -p s 1w 3 d o the er se amp n P e t n efthie jew, end. e r et h ptl en e en a ciden a m eme t of the lemp ng; J ha the e n teh en he nk. 2 serve to he d h elemp ng ie pee thre y he he i s lamping its ie ehed, po t Mounted onopposi esides of the frame of he me h he gu de 3 'W l ht 'Q bored tee fit sliding ls' 3 Y exten in n t d helly" of t e frame, t ese r s ein gu ded as h d p e wperell l h the of the te le 2 t. ll hhe h tWO mes eree neeted et h ree the machine by a cross-bar 35 toa piS O 3. h eh exten ht e P e r ey i h 3. end e ecur to e, Pist n th n ey den ee het th s pi ton eget wi the sliding rods 34; Ican'be moved back and f rth hyedm inflg fluid h P esh t "one the o he h l. f the y n er: vD

tai s oi the p s o meeheni m e he e t e fer the se ne are not ll s ate eee l 'iv 7 re 'g m nts r h s Purpo er Well. k ow no l 7 but the. control lever 38 desirably extends to th fro t. nd e he me hin s h t he within easy reach of the operator who also manipulates the hand wheel 21 and the f he g t djus ng leve 28- Connec ting th forward er cu t r t fi eeh ed, t t end Which also has vertical guideways tor bearings 41 in ieh e h fttZ; is, j hmeuled-s T h whi h. s dispos d fe werd y of the "(gutt ng dge f he knif r je t e imuerpm empl y d. for, ompre sing he heee j tt i e en y to p e nt he k n fr m wri kl n To m k t eete hpi g f h Skin y'th iew'il highly e e i e, des e-My hepe h ends ofthe sli'da the e s 4; s e heme 9 wh c he ie k if platen so that this will have a bottom ledge 42; against which the tip portion of the severed skin 7 is pressed downwardly by the clamping action of the jaw 3, this detached skin cooperate with the gripping action of the clamp 8 in affording afirm hold, so that I readily avoid any slipping which might otherwise be due to the slippery'ness of the skin or to variations in its thickness. Consequently, no adjustment in this respect is required.

All that the operator has to do is to loosen the rear end of'the skin on the side or slab of bacon, slide this into the position indicated in Fig. 9 while the jaws is in the raised position of Fig. 6, and then depress the aw by moving the hand lever 28 at the forward end of the machine. While this is being done, the knife is in its retracted for starting position, corresponding to that shown in the diagram of Fig. 1, so that it is subject to the heating action of steam admitted to the steam pct 11, to' which steam is supplied through the inlet 44; shown in Fig. 4:. The piston, sliding rods 34, and cross-head 39 together with the roller 10 are at that time all at the rear end of their travel, and the roller is adjusted in height against the pressure of springs 46 which urge the bearings 4-1 downwardly, according to the thickness of the slab of bacon. If the original thickness exceeds that corresponding to the standard width of the proposed bacon slices, the hand wheel 21 is first turned so as to move the cams or wedges 16 and to lower the table or "platen until the top of the bacon is at'a certain distance above the horizontal plane in which the knife travels. I

In order that the ope'r'ator can readily gage the height of the table so asto make the initial cut furnish the right thickness of bacon, I preferably provide guides at opposite edges of the table having sight edges at the required height above the cutting plane of the knife. For this purpose I desirably employ the guides 46 which also guide the frame 3 9 of the cutter and roller assembly, so that by sighting across the tops of these guides while lowering his table, the operator can quickly bring the top of the clamped slab of bacon to the same level with these tops. Thus, if 1% inch slices of bacon are to be desired the guides 46 in Fig. 8 have their upper horizontal surfaces in a plane just that much above the cutting edge of the knife. I 7

When the table has thus been adjusted,

fluid pressure is admitted to the rear end of the cylinder- 37 to move the piston, roller and knife forwardly and to cutoff the knife are retracted by anop'posite movement of the piston and'the table is raised by again .moving the hand wheel 21, so as'to bring the top of the skin intothe said cutting plane of the knife. Then the next forward movement of the knife detaches the skin from the fatty remainder of the bacon and movement of the handlever 28-oauses the clamping jaw to 7 release this skin. In

practice, both the simple adjustments and the two cuts as required in bacon slabs exceeding the said standard thickness can all be made very quickly, so that a single operator can effectively trim and skin a large number of sla'bs of bacon per hour. Furthermore, the action of the pressure roller readily cooperates with the pulling action of the cutter on the skin toflattenout any wrinkles in'the latter, thereby permitting thebacon to be detached quite completely. from the skin and hence avoiding-any material'loss of the bacon fat-through having portions thereof left attached to the skin.

However, while I have illustrated and described my' machinein a commercial embodiment in'cluding'a' pair of parallel guide rods, a piston mechanism for operating the same,a nd including c'ertain desirable arrangements for" the height adjustments and for the clamping'of the-skin, I do not wish to be limited to these or other details of the construction and arrangement standard thickness of the slab of bacon. As soon as thishas been done, the roller'and mu I here disclosed. Obviously, these might be varied in many ways without 7 departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention stantially horizontal support, reciprocal cutting means movable parallel to the support, and means to gripthe skin at an edge there of, said' cutting'means being movable past the gripping means on the retrograde stroke thereof to expose the gripping means.

2. In a bacon skinning machine, a support, means to hold the skin thereon, reciprocal cutting means above the support, and heating means located for registry with the cutting means at approximately the end of the retrograde stroke thereof for heating the cutting means only when in register therewith and prior to inception of the cutting stroke.

3. In a bacon skinning machine, a support, means to hold the skin thereon, reciprocal cutting means above the support and a steam pot having an open top located beneath and for registry with the cutting means at approximately the end of the retrograde stroke ,means to fixedly hold the skin on thesupport, and means. to, reciprocate the cutting .7

Y fstantija y hori o a pp rec proca cutra t ng-hea to th cut-ting eans Q yW -v in register her w h an pr or to incept o V of the cutting stroke. Y

4. In a bacon skinning machine a subting means movable parallel to the support,

means with the skin held against movement.

, 5. In abacon skinning machine, a support, means for gripping one end of the sk n of a v slab of bacon bearing against the support, a

cutter movable parallel to the bacon-supporting surface of the support, meansmova-ble I. conjointly with the cutter for compressing V the slab of bacon in advance of the cutter, f

and means for adjusting-the distance from a the slab-supporting surface to the cutter and therewith the jcompressmg means,

6, In a bacon sklnnlngmachine, asupport,

7 means for gripping one end of the skin of a slab of bacon bearing against the support, acutter movable parallel tothe bacon-support ing surface, of the, suppor means movable conjointly with the cutter for compressing the slab of bacon ahead of the cutter, means for adjusting the distance from the slabsupporting surface to the cutter and thereqwith the compressing means and separate ing surfaceof the support, anduneansioacting;

means for adjusting the compressing means.

7. A bacon skinning maehine comprising 'asupport for aslab :of bacon, means on the support'for gripping one end of the skin of the bacon, a cuttermounted for reciprocating movement parallel to the bacon-supportupon the cutter'only when the latter is re tracted' for heating the cutter p-rior'to each cutting stroke.

8. A r ba'con skinning machine as "per claim 7, in which the heating means comprise meansfor exposingthe cutter to a hot A bacon iskinningmachine as per cla m 7, 1n WhlClTl/he h6&t1ng means comprise a potof boiling water disposedbelow the cutter at the beginning of the cutting stroke of the latter. j

10. In a bacon skinning machine, a support, means for gripping one end! of the skin 1 of a slab of bacon bearing against thesupport, a cutter movable parallel'tothe baconsupporting surface of the: support, means for adjusting the distance between thecutter and the bacon-supporting surface, and a gage I disposed at a fixed height above the entter and adapted to aline with the fatty face of the slab of bacon when the aforesaid distance is suit-ably adjusted.

' 1 1 In a bacon skinning machine, sup- M p.ort,means-forgripping one end; of skin ofaslabi of bearing-against the support, a cutter movable parallel tot-he baconsupporti-ng surface of the support, means i -r adia t ag the d stance thee utter de ar an d th f su i g t lt 'e and f ind c t ng a p n disp sed at a ixe distance above the plane in which thecutter 12 In a" bacon, skinning machine, a sup and the bacon-supporting. surface, ,,and 1 port, means for gripping one end of the skin of a slab, of bacon bearingagainst the support, a cnttermovable parallel tothe bacon-' supporting surfaceof the support, means i for; adjusting the distance between the cutter and the bacon-supporting surface, and sighting means for indicating aplane disposedat a fixed distance; the euttermovjes. o V o 13. In a-baoon skinning machine, a-supe porting lnember, a table for receiving a slab of bacon, cooperating cam means respectively carriedby the table and the supporting member, one of the-cam; means being slidable longitudinally and means for relatively moving the said slidabliecalnmeans t6 the s pport ng em er- 145. In a bacon skinning machine, a supporting member, a.- table mountedthereon for movement transverse tothe face of the above the plane in which V to vary; the heightof the table with'respect 7 table, cutting-means movable parallel to the I face of the table, bacon-skin clamping means associated with theqtable, and means for raising or lowering the. table and therewiththe said clamping'means.-.

15. In a bacon skinning, machine, bacon supporting means including a baconsu.pporting table having a rearward-1y extending ledge disposed below thetop. of the table, a clamping member having a jaw overhanging the said ledge, the clamping 'member being movable from a position in which the j aw is disposed close to the said ledge to a position in which the jaw is disposed above the top of the table, and means mounted on the table for end of the table, the linkhaving a pair-of relatively spacedv latching formations, and a latching member carried by the table. and adapted to engageeither of the said formation 7 17, In a bacon skinningmachine as per claim 15,. jaw moving means comprising a v lever pivoted to, the jaw and a link connected tothe lever and operable from the forward end of the table, the link-having a =pair of relatively spaced latchingformations, and a latching member carried bv the table and adapted to engage either of the said 'formations, in combination with'means mounted on he t b e and connected tothe. IinkforreQ, 1

moi

leasing the link from the latching formations and for shifting the posit-ion of the link when so released.

18. A bacon skinning machine comprising a supporting member, a traveling member mounted for horizontal movement over the top of the supporting member, a bacon supporting table carried by the supporting member and having a horizontal top, the said traveling member including a cutter disposed higher than the said top, clamping means for securing the skin of the bacon to the table, and means interposed between the supporting member and the table for varying the height of the table Without disturbing the operative relation of the clamping means to the table.

19. A bacon skinning machine as per claim 18, in Which the said interposed means comprise inclined members carried by the comprise a rotatable member carried by the supporting member, and supporting elements threaded upon'the rotatable member, the table having portions engaging the supporting elements and the supporting elements being so arranged as to raise or lower the table upon movement of the rotatable member in one direction or the other.

Signed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, October 29, 1923.

THEODORE E. ODERMAN. 

